Teaching Kids How to Clean with a Simple Game

This post is sponsored by The Home Depot. All opinions are 100% mine.

My four kids don’t stand behind ANY brand of cleaning products. They have started to use the excuse…”MOM, I don’t know what I’m suppose to use to clean that!” 

We buy HDX cleaning supplies all the time. My husband goes to Home Depot almost every day, and I hate going grocery shopping lately. “Oh, we have no food in the house? No problem, let’s just eat cold cereal for dinner….again.”

If I need something {like laundry detergent for example}, it’s easy for Dan to grab it for me while he’s at Home Depot picking up supplies for work. Or if I’m doing a project and I’m headed into Home Depot myself, I’ll grab a few things myself too {like paper towels and toilet cleaner}. 

Have you ever tried HDX brand cleaning supplies? They rock. I’m not just saying that. I hope you know me well enough by now that I only promote brands that I truly stand behind. 

We are in a chore cleaning rut lately. To combat the rut, I made a game. Why not, right?

I labeled all the cleaning products with easy labels to prevent the excuse that they don’t know what to use to clean something {that’ll teach ’em}. I bought these HDX squirt bottles for $1.72 each and filled them with the proper cleaner. 

Then I taped the printed label on them with the correct item that it will clean and I put them in a Home Depot bucket. 

All they have to do is pick a bottle and VOILA their chore has been magically chosen! 

Look at that fake smile. Doesn’t it look like he’s pretending to be happy about cleaning the tub and sinks!!?!

Londyn on the other hand was actually excited. Her seven year old self isn’t old enough to be crabby about cleaning yet. She drew “Window and Mirror Cleaner,” and she was thrilled. 

Oaklyn is past the “pretending to be happy about cleaning” stage. She’s all business. 

Creed cleaned the fridge, and we had a minor set back. 

The solution I made first: 2 c. hot water, 1/4 c HDX cleaning vinegar, and 2 T baking soda was a disaster. I had found it online somewhere, and it was a huge fail. 

So, we had to change it to straight vinegar and it worked like a charm. Let me say that again…wiping stainless steel with straight vinegar worked PERFECTLY! I learned something new.

 We try not to take life too seriously around our house, so we took breaks to do a few heal stretches here and there. 

But, we went back to work soon after to get the chores done as quickly as possible. {Hint, hint, if you want your kids to clean, tell them you are taking pictures of them and will be posting it on the Internet. That whips them into shape pretty fast I’ve learned.}

We used HDX products in each of the squirt bottles and for the free printable labels, click here. 

Tile Floor Cleaner we used: Fruit passion All purpose cleaner diluted as directed {it smells heavenly by the way}

Toilet Cleaner {for the outside of the toilet}: Fruit Passion All Purpose Cleaner not diluted 

Tub Sink Cleaner: All Purpose Cleaner with Bleach 

Window Mirror Cleaner: HDX Glass Cleaner

Wood Floor Cleaner: HDX Wood Floor Cleaner

Stainless Steel Cleaner: HDX Cleaning Vinegar 

Counter Top Cleaner: HDX Fruit Passion All Purpose Cleaner not diluted 

 For the free printable labels, go HERE.

It’s worth a try, right! Whatever works to get a little help around here is worth it I say!

xoxo,

Brooke